Future Shock by Elizabeth Briggs

Future Shock by Elizabeth Briggs
Published by Albert Whitman & Company on April 1st 2016
Genres: Fiction, Sci-Fi, Romance, Thriller, YA, Young Adult
Goodreads

Elena Martinez has hidden her eidetic memory all her life--or so she thinks. When powerful tech giant Aether Corporation selects her for a top-secret project, she can't say no. All she has to do is participate in a trip to the future to bring back data, and she'll be set for life.

Elena joins a team of four other teens with special skills, including Adam, a science prodigy with his own reason for being there. But when the time travelers arrive in the future, something goes wrong and they break the only rule they were given: do not look into their own fates.

Now they have twenty-four hours to get back to the present and find a way to stop a seemingly inevitable future from unfolding. With time running out and deadly secrets uncovered, Elena must use her eidetic memory, street smarts, and a growing trust in Adam to save her new friends and herself.

I received a copy of this novel for review, this does not influence my thoughts on the book or this review.

I really enjoyed Future Shock and I definitely see it being as one of the best YA releases of the year.

Elena Martinez has an eidetic memory. After being in the foster care system for so long, she’s worried about what will happen to her when she turns 18. When she gets offered a large amount of money from Aether Corporation for a discrete mission, she eagerly accepts. When she arrives at the corporation, she finds out that her mission is to travel to the future. But when she finally arrives, she has to rely on herself and the people with her to figure out what Aether Corporation is really up to.

Elena was such a great hero. She relied on herself and used her brains to solve problems. The plot was really intense on its own, and I’m not sure about the technology parts but I loved the time travel elements.

The romance does play a large part in the novel but I really enjoyed it. Adam is a huge nerd but also surprisingly has a mysterious side which I think works for all of us.

In terms of diversity, Future Shock is pretty great. Elena is Latina and it’s addressed very explicitly, especially in regards to her situation in the foster care system. One of the characters on the time travel mission with Elena did explicitly identify as bisexual which was also pretty great.

Overall, Future Shock was an amazing sci-fi novel with a swoony romance. I highly recommend it for people looking for a thrilling stand-alone novel!